Driver Runs From Police After Causing Four-Vehicle Crash on I-5

A Rochester man arrested Friday afternoon after allegedly causing a four-vehicle crash on Interstate 5 then fleeing the scene on foot made his first appearance on felony charges Monday in Lewis County Superior Court.

Darren D. Cochran, 48, was charged Monday with hit and run with injury and possession of methamphetamine.

Court Commissioner Tracy Mitchell imposed $25,000 bail, in accordance with a request from the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office based on his lengthy history of warrants associated with criminal cases.

Cochran has no felony criminal history but had four active warrants out of Grays Harbor County at the time of his arrest, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

According to a report on the crash from the Washington State Patrol, the crash was first reported at 4:51 p.m. Friday at milepost 77 in Chehalis. Four vehicles were involved.

Three vehicles, a 2016 Nissan Altima, a 1998 Ford Windstar and a 2002 Buick LeSabre, all in the left lane, slowed for traffic. A fourth vehicle, a 1994 Chevrolet pickup driven by Cochran, failed to stop for the traffic and hit the rear end of the Nissan, causing it to hit the Ford, which caused the Ford to hit the Buick.

The driver of the Nissan, identified by the State Patrol as Vladimir B. Osokin, 37, of Hillsboro, Oregon, was not injured. The driver of the Ford, identified as Jennifer C. Landauer, 40, of Tumwater, was injured and transported to Providence Centralia Hospital.

The driver of the Buick, identified as Jimmie E. Long, of Centralia, was not injured.

A juvenile passenger was injured and transported to Providence Centralia Hospital.

After the crash, police learned a man in a white T-shirt, later identified as Cochran, ran from the scene of the collision. A witness reported seeing the suspect ducking down by a set of railroad tracks.

Cochran was later apprehended and arrested in Chehalis at the intersection of Division Street and Hawthorne Place.

Cochran reportedly told police he was involved in the collision and ran because “he was scared of the other driver who was yelling at him,” according to court documents.

Police reportedly found a baggie containing a substance identified as methamphetamine in his possession.

Cochran was driving with a suspended license at the time of the collision.